Overview

The Lasörling group is a sort of subgroup of Venediger Group. It is situated between the valleys of Isel and Schwarzach rivers. The valley of Isel is called Virgental after one of its villages while the valley of Schwarzach is called Defereggental.

The Lasörling group forms a long west-east chain. It is asymmetrical as the northern slopes are much longer than the southern ones, and there is a difference between the western and eastern parts also.

The western part, where the peak of Lasörling itself is located is wild, with rocky peaks and many sub-ridges diverging in different directions. There are a few summits exceding 3000 meters, and many above 2900.

The eastern part is much more friendly. The ridges are mostly smooth, easily passable. The highest peaks are over 2700 meters here.

The whole group is in the Hohe Tauern National Park. The boundary of the park follows more or less the treeline, which is quite regular here: the border is around 1900 meters. Above this you will find alpine pastures with cows and wonderful flowers, while the lower regions are forested by pines and larches.

About the photos: I have only colour slides of this area. While I manage to scan them I'll try to find appropriate photos here on SP. The one now serves as primary image is taken by Mathias Zehring.

Getting There

The region is accessible from Virgental or from Defereggental. Although the latter has a connection to Italy over the pass of Staller Sattel, the standard way of getting there is from the Tauerntal. As there is a tunnel under the main chain of Hohe Tauern, this valley is reachable either from Lienz in the south or from Mittersill in the north.

There are regular bus services to every village in the valleys.

Red Tape

The whole area is within the boundaries of Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. Do not overrun the restrictions indicated on the signs and information tables.

External Links

www.hinterbichl.at
very detailed website (in german) about hiking and climbing possibilities around the Virgental valley

Camping, Huts

There are campings in Matrei, Prägraten and Hinterbichl (at the end of Virgental). You will find several "Zimmer Frei"s in the villages as well as mountain huts in the higher regions of valleys.

The most important huts are:

Zupalseehütte (2346m): Ideal starting point for hikes in the eastern part. Reachable from Virgen in 3 hours.

Lasörlinghütte (2296m): Located in the valley of Mullitzbach, this hut is the base for the southern approach of Lasörling. Reachable from Welzelach in 2-3 hours.

Lasnitzenhütte (1895m) Base for the northern approach of Lasörling. 1.5 hours from Hinterbichl.

Neue Reichenberger Hütte (2586m) This hut is at the western end of Lasörling group and is a good point if you want to visit the adjacent ranges also. It is reachable either from Hinterbichl or from St. Jakob in Defereggen.

Many of the huts can be reached by "Hüttentaxi". Ask for the possibilities in the information offices of the villages.

Routes overview

There is a good network of marked paths in the area. There are big differences between the eastern and the western parts: while there are many paths running on the ridges in the east, in the western part they are usually in the valleys and crossing the easier passes. Only a few branches reach the summits.

The long-way path of Lasörling Höhenweg puts the whole area on a shoestring, but it doesn't climb any of the higher peaks